Comments on: Death, as viewed through a lens

By: Jessica - This is Worthwhile

Jessica - This is Worthwhile — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 20:39:29 +0000

After the 9/11 attacks I watched the towers crumble a hundred times, numb and dazed, for days. A few days later I vowed to never see that again. If a commemorative coin commercial, news show, or a blog uses the image of the towers ablaze, I turn it off or close the page immediately, even 8 and a half years later. I simply can’t stomach it.

This past 9/11 anniversary was the same for me. I was very angry when I kept tripping across the tower images on blogs I read and I sent gentle, yet firm, emails to them telling them I found it in bad taste. They apologized and replaced that particular image with something less emotional. (And yes, I know my emotional might not be everyone’s emotional, but there are some common ground among us all as you’ve mentioned.)

I think there’s an expiration date to seeing raw pain and carnage. I’m not clicking on your links deliberately because I have already seen them somewhere and they are tattooed on my brain. I think after a few days journalists should switch to the survivors fighting, not mourning in open mouthed agony.

But that’s just me. I’m a little bit the necessary evil camp and a lot of the it’s not ethical camp.

By: angelsandurchinsblog

angelsandurchinsblog — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 20:51:48 +0000

I’ve been shocked by the images coming out of Haiti. Obviously the subject matter couldn’t be more shocking, but the chasing of the emotive story has seemed incredibly insensitive. Just one example: footage of a congregation outside the church arguing over whether to bury or burn the body of their preacher. In the end, they showed the body being dumped into a tangle of other bodies in a pit. How did this deepen understanding? And broadcast before 7pm, which meant my children saw most of it. I understand the argument about needing to show the full horror to make people react to it: ‘Vietnam was lost in the living rooms of America – not on the battlefields of Vietnam’ (Marshall McLuhan). But there’s also the argument about ‘disaster fatigue’, not to mention being unable to mentally formulate the horror when shown endless twisted corpses. In the meantime, I guess we all keep giving and perhaps a silver lining will be improved lives for those left behind when the media circus moves on.

By: Muddling Along Mummy

Muddling Along Mummy — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 21:50:00 +0000

I’m torn, the images are so powerful they do push people to action but there is an element of not putting out images that are intrusive and borderline offensive

I hate that in this media saturated age we need images like these in order to get a reaction

By: NS

NS — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 19:30:28 +0000

@JMIH – I disagree that the Haitian government is disrespecting its people by burying them in mass graves. It’s obviously not ideal to be dealing with the bodies in this way but what are they supposed to do? Leaving them there would only hasten the spread of disease and contamination of what little water supplies there are and the resources and man power required to give them all proper burials would take away tremendously from the help that should be directed at the living.

@jen – Thank you for clarifying. I respect your view and, intellectually at least, mostly agree with it. But man oh man if it doesn’t get me round the aortic valves and make me all lachrymose.

@Rosie – That’s the thing isn’t it — “careful consideration” is not used nearly enough, I think.

@PVLIF – I’m sorry if linking to the photos upset anyone but I couldn’t very well talk about them without providing some kind of reference, which is why I put a link up instead of embedding it into the post; that way people had a choice whether to click on it or not. As it is, the links are dead now. Thanks for your comment!

@Dad Who Writes – Thank you, and thanks for continuing the discussion. I read your post and will comment shortly.

By: NS

NS — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 19:02:49 +0000

@Sandy Calico – I can understand wanting to stay away from the coverage.

@anna – The last line of your comment sums up the dilemma well — do we turn away in respect or do we owe people enough respect not to?

@Lyn – Beautifully said and well-articulated, as usual.

@Heather – Again, I agree with you on that count. I really don’t think WaPo would have put a dead white (American) girl on the front page. My issue is mainly with the editors as well.

@earwicga – I’m not sure if the Auschwitz analogy works since that was a man-made atrocity that many people didn’t believe had actually happened or weren’t aware of, whereas earthquakes are pretty indisputable.

@Emily O – Good point re: Hillsborough.

@Gappy – I agree.